Starstrike Rangers
The Starstrike Rangers are an interplanetary Ranger team tasked primarily with investigating the threat to KO-82. Rangers Allies * Brian West * Various Karovans Enemies * The Highmind * Generals ** Proto ** Deutero ** Trito * Actuators (footsoldiers) * Equinox Rangers Arsenal *Transformation devices **Stellar Morpher ***Ring form ***Wrist form *Sidearms **Stellar Pistol *Power-up devices **Spectrolenses *Individual weapons **Red Spear **Yellow Staff **Green Daggers **Cyan Bow **Blue Boomerang **Magenta Axe **Ultra Sniper **Notes: The boomerang is bladed and can be wielded in close combat. Each weapon has at least one noticeable translucent component. Each weapon has a slot for a power-up item. *Team weapons **Ultra Spectrum Cannon ***(Full) Spectrum Cannon ( ) Zords and Vehicles Main article: Starstrike Megazords Legend: ◆ piloted zord, ➲ carrier zord, ◇ combo-assist zord *Radiant Ultrazord **Spectrum Megazord ***Stellar Megazord ****Panther Zord ****Stingray Zord ****Mantis Zord ****Goat Zord ****Fox Zord ***Gammashift Megazord ****Badger Zord ****Crow Zord **Astro Megaship III **Owl Minizord Team history Background The history of Starstrike could be said to begin with the Hexagon, where Brian worked on several technological projects including Ranger weapons, pocket dimensions, and even traveling to other universes. Some time after the fall of the Hexagon, Brian became friends with Kiyr, who had a deep love of Ranger history. Over his years of involvement with Earth, Kiyr had seen an increasing distance from the notion of Power Rangers and a reluctance for government and para-military organizations to continue Ranger programs. This attitude was strongest on Earth itself, but was also found to some degree on the planets that were Earth's allies. While it was appropriate to retire older powers that had served their seasons, it was the decision not to use the Grid to defend against future threats that caused Kiyr great concern. He and Brian began building morphers using their collected knowledge. Brian also became a certified Ranger support operative through the Xybrian government during this time. They made a few dozen morpher cases in the early stages, before they even had a functioning prototype. Then the prototypes were made in red, yellow, green, cyan and blue, with the understanding that more colors were possible. Kiyr found himself wondering if the entire color wheel would be necessary at some point. Rumors grew and spread of losing contact with outposts and settlements, of an invading army that left little evidence of its passing other than the complete disappearance or destruction of whatever life had been there. Kiyr and Brian worked harder at refining their morphers and gathering the necessary foci. Then suddenly this force struck nearer to Earth than anyone had expected: KO-82, a new outpost right under Triforia's nose. Scans and photography showed nothing left of the several villages and over a thousand people that had been there before - and yet small enemy ships soon rose out of KO-82 to harass the rest of Karova, leading people to believe that the settlers were still there and being forced to work for the enemy and shielded by a kind of cloaking technology. As waves of monsters and footsoldiers attacked from this stronghold, new soldiers were called upon to be the Astro Rangers and defend KO-35 and the other nearby worlds, with mixed success. There was no more time. They needed new Rangers. Building the team Kiyr asked his old friend Adam for help finding a group of young people, preferably some who were already friends, to wield his morphers on a mission to rescue the colonists. Adam scouted the chain of martial arts schools he worked for and found four friends of good character: David, Tyler, Liam, and Alexis. Kiyr, Brian and Adam successfully recruited them and gave them the red, yellow, blue and green morphers respectively. Kiyr took the cyan power himself. The Grid accepted them, and their first morph was a sight to behold. Green didn't seem to suit Alexis, but it suited her better than any of the others, so it would have to do. Liam invented the name "Starstrike" for the team, and Tyler was named the leader, with Kiyr and Brian as support. The new team contacted the Karovans to state their mission and ask if any resources could be spared for transporting them to the scene - and for zord-building. The response was grim. Yes, a shuttle could be sent soon to bring the Starstrike Rangers to KO-82. And yes, in fact, the Karovans could adapt the new zords they were working on to the new team. But there wasn't much hope. KO-82 was under a sort of magical blackout that defied any sort of reconnaissance. Ships in orbit around KO-82 were not attacked unless they began to descend toward the planet, but from orbit they were unable to discern where anything was, other than by maps of the colony. A rescue team had teleported down to the surface, but communication was immediately lost and never regained. Without a way to see through the cloak, they probably would not stand a chance. Nevertheless, the team was determined to go. The shuttle would arrive in less than a day. As the others went about getting ready to leave Earth, Kiyr and Brian were notified of an alarm going off in their laboratory. This alarm was related to an old project, an inter-universal tracking device that Brian had left in another universe on a test run. It indicated that the position of the device had changed significantly. Fearing another threat, they rushed to see what was going on. To their surprise, two young women from different universes had arrived. One of them, Karen, had been a child when Brian left the device with her in the form of a trinket. The other, Zhera, had the natural ability to travel from one universe to another. They had come peacefully to investigate the people who had made the technology to travel in this way. Most importantly, they both had a strange ability: they could sense the presence of people regardless of obstacles, seeing them as points of light. Combined with stealth technology, this ability would give Starstrike the edge they needed. They were willing to help, and they came along on the ship when it arrived. Foray at KO-82 While on the way to the Karovan outpost, the whole group bonded and became better friends. With fresh inspiration, Brian was able to finish the magenta power. He hoped to give it to Karen, but it was unstable. The team decided to give Karen the green power and Alexis (with her Ranger background) the magenta power. When they arrived at KO-82, Zhera and Karen were able to assist the team in stealthily entering the enemy base through the cloak. They found some prisoners, but while they tried to free them, they were attacked by hordes of footsoldiers. The prisoners scattered. In the ensuing battle, the new Rangers fought bravely but struggled; it took several hits to take out a single one of the enemies, and the magenta powers would intermittently fail. Zhera eventually had to take the whole team and some of the prisoners back to the ship with her portals, but they didn't have time to track down the rest. The trip had given the Rangers some valuable intelligence about the base, including where to look next for the leader or control center. But they were badly outnumbered, and they knew that there would be worse than those footsoldiers waiting for them as they explored. They needed to improve their powers, but they were at the limit of what Kiyr and Brian knew how to do. At a loss, the Rangers decided to take some time helping the Karovans on their ship tend to the colonists they had brought back and see what information they could get from them. The colonists told them that the enemy called itself the Highmind, and that the Highmind was trying to make Ranger powers from stolen artifacts. They also helped to start a map of the enemy base. However, most of them were concerned for their fellows who had run further into the base, and for other prisoners who had not yet been found. Tyler reminded the team that their main priority was protecting the colonists, and that they should try to retrieve the ones that ran if they could do so without encountering more enemies. Zhera looked and saw that some of the ones who had run had been re-captured and were now guarded, but a few were wandering alone. The team decided to try to get these onto the ship. The one who went off on his own For two of these people, the process was easy: Zhera went with Karen and Kiyr to the spot where the person was, explained that they were there to help, and took the person back to the ship. But the third and last person, a middle-aged man, surprised them by stubbornly refusing to go to the ship with them. He seemed intrigued by Zhera's ability, but he wouldn't say anything about himself. Zhera suggested taking the man to the ship by force before enemies found them. Despite the fact that Kiyr shot down that idea, the man tried to fight Zhera and the Rangers. When this failed - they didn't want to hurt him, but he was no match for a Ranger - he finally admitted that he was not a Karovan, but a rogue SPD officer trying to find something that was stolen from him. He said he could help the Rangers if they would help him find it. They agreed to help, since their mission was to take down the Highmind anyway, and the man agreed to go to the ship with them. After he had secured a promise to help from the whole team, the man revealed himself to be Cameron Watanabe. Cam told them that the Highmind had captured Tommy - and everything Tommy had been hoarding. This included the Samurai Amulet, Cam's birthright that he was there to retrieve, and which he insisted that they help him with. It also included the Zeo Crystal, a power source which grew over time. If the Highmind managed to make use of it, there would be no stopping him. But Cam could improve their Ranger powers greatly, fix the problem with the magenta power, and even improve the zords the team had brought on the ship. Kiyr, Brian and Cam started working as fast as they could on improving the Ranger powers... (to be continued) Notes * Here are some ways I have tried to make the team subvert trends: ** Red is not the leader ** Female Green Ranger ** Female Black Ranger (sort of; the suit is black to most human eyes) ** Male Ranger using a bow as an individual weapon ** "Sixth" Ranger is similar in power level to the core team Credits Megazords by LegoGnocchi. Thanks to friends for inspiring some of these ideas, including the name "Equinox Rangers". Category:Starstrike